She stepped outside the back door with him behind her, and the weathered wooden boards creaked beneath their feet. The air was cooler over here than it had been in the city, which made it a perfect time to start a fire.
He left her alone while he gathered the wood and put it together in the rock fire pit he’d had specially built.
“I hope you enjoy barbecue,” he told her after the blaze was going strong, and he dragged out a couple of chairs.
“I’m pretty versatile in what I like.”
The hungry look she sent his way had his groin tightening. She confused him. One moment she was sending him all the right signals, and the next she was putting on a chastity belt.
Without a second thought, he grabbed her, tugging her tightly into his arms. “Dessert always should come first,” he murmured.
His lips fastened to hers and he didn’t waste time gaining access to her mouth. With a hungry groan, he feasted on her, enjoying their first kiss since that night at the bar.
When he pulled back, Tyler wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting — if he’d been thinking the passion between them was nothing but a fluke or not. But it was so much more powerful than he remembered.
He needed this woman.
“I’ll start our lunch.”
He left her on the back patio before going inside and gathering the steaks he’d had brought in. The next half hour stabilized him as he loved cooking. The routine of it eased the ever-pulsing need for her that was racking his body.
He and Elena chatted while the steak cooked and he put together a salad and warmed bread. He’d prefer wine with their lunch, but he had a pretty good feeling they wouldn’t be staying the night – not yet, at least. And Tyler would never drink and drive.
When they finished lunch, he didn’t fail to notice Elena looking at her watch. She was nervous being there alone with him. Good. She made him feel all sorts of inexplicable emotions. Throwing her off her game a little was justice in his book.
He stood up and said, “Let’s go for a walk along the shore.”
“We really should get back, Tyler. This has all been wonderful, but I have work to do”
“A small walk to help the food digest. It’s a Saturday. Work can wait.”
Tyler had to smile after saying that. Though he wasn’t quite the workaholic his brothers were, he didn’t count weekends as work-free time. There were always things that could be done. Sometimes progress was easier when the phone wasn’t ringing quite as much.
“A walk actually sounds pretty good,” she told him.
They moved down a trail that took them to the water’s edge, and then strolled along the small beach. The sun was shining, a nice breeze was blowing, and a few boats decorated the water with brilliant colors.
“I think this is where I would live if I had a choice,” Elena told him with a happy sigh.
“It’s too much of a commute,” Tyler said, “and not nearly as nice in the winter.”
She’d managed to walk too far away from him so far, so he closed the gap between them and took her hand. Surprisingly he enjoyed the feel of her fingers in his. He found himself rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, loving her soft skin, and the way she shivered next to him.
“Yes, but even the commute would make it worth it,” she said.
“Why don’t you live out this way then, or outside of the city?”
She paused in her steps, almost not noticeably, and then she began walking easily next to him, but he didn’t miss the sudden tension in her.
“How do you know I don’t? We don’t know anything about each other. I could have a house on each of these islands for all you know,” she said with a laugh.
“We might be a mystery to each other, but I’m good at reading people. You love it here, but you don’t want to commute so you obviously don’t live on the islands. My guess is that you live pretty close to your work — walking distance, or at least a short bus ride.”
She didn’t look at him as they moved forward, and she took so long answering that he wondered if she was just going to ignore his comment.
“That’s a pretty good guess. Too bad you won’t find out. At least not today.”
“Are you going to share anything about yourself?” Mystery was good. But this was getting a little ridiculous.
As if she could sense him pulling from her, she turned and smiled at him. “Well, you know about my best friend, Piper. She’s the most important person in my life. I couldn’t live without her. So that’s knowing something.”
“What about family?”
“I don’t have any left.”
“That’s pretty sad. I can’t imagine not having my brothers. We fight sometimes, but we’re always there for each other.”
“I was an only child and I lost my dad when I was very young. He decided my mother and I weren’t good enough. Then my mom died several years ago. So now it’s Piper — only Piper.”
She laughed as if this weren’t a big deal, but he could clearly hear the pain in her voice. She wasn’t as good an actress as she seemed to think she was.
“Some parents just weren’t meant to procreate,” Tyler told her. It wasn’t as if he were the person to give her any advice on parents. They didn’t get worse than the ones he’d been given.
“I fully agree with you there!”
They fell into silence as they walked a while longer before he led her back to the cabin. He wanted to know more about her, wanted to ask a thousand questions, but at the same time, he wanted to respect her privacy.